A Tribute

Vermeer's The Concert, 1665

Our very dear friend Lois Nielson died two weeks ago.  She was 91.  She lived such a full and abundant life, committing herself unreservedly to her calling, touching so many with her love and dedication that despite the advanced age, it still felt like an untimely death to all who knew her.  She was musically and pedagogically gifted (training pianists for 71 of her 91 years, including our daughter Kathryn), possessed of a brilliant and curious mind, a sharp eye for things beautiful, and a magnanimous heart that beat passionately for her family, friends, students...and above all her God.

She was a woman who exuded beauty, and her memorial service aptly captured that beauty.  Hers was the kind of beauty that I can only describe as transcendent.  It is because she (and her memorial service) pointed to the ultimate Beauty, her Lord Jesus Christ.  The music at her memorial service lifted hearts heavenward, the eulogies and Scripture readings moved the mourners to seek more urgently the God who had  transformed her into the incredible, unforgettable woman that she was; it was a most suitable tribute to how she lived her life.  In death, as in life, Lois Nielson pointed and gave praise to her Lord and Redeemer!

Here is  Alex McDonald playing Chopin Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48, No. 1.  Alex was a student of Mrs. Nielson, a 2014 Van Cliburn Competition finalist; he lovingly performed this transcendent piece at her memorial service.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 

John 10: 10b

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire in his temple.

Psalm 27:4